KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) — The Malaysian minister responsible for legal affairs resigned Monday over a series of arrests under controversial new security legislation, an aide said.
“Yes, he has resigned. Zaid Ibrahim sent his letter of resignation to the prime minister’s office at 2.00pm today,” the aide told AFP.
“He has resigned over the ISA issue,” the official added, referring to the Internal Security Act which allows for indefinite detention without trial.
The aide said it was not yet clear whether Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had accepted the resignation.
Zaid has led criticism from within the government of the weekend arrests of an opposition politician, a blogger and a reporter under the ISA legislation.
“The ISA is open to abuse. If we cannot be fair in implementing it, then we should confine its use to terrorists,” Zaid said, according to the New Straits Times.
“If we have to use the ISA to detain people, it shows that we have no confidence in our enforcement agencies,” he said, adding he was ready to resign over his stance if he was asked to.
Zaid, a maverick member of the ruling party, was brought into the cabinet in a March reshuffle despite his frequent criticisms on social and human rights issues.
He was given the task of reforming Malaysia’s much-criticised judiciary, a decision seen as evidence of Abdullah’s willingness to accept reforms after a general election drubbing.
However, since then the government has been accused of returning to its old ways as it tries to head off a challenge by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who says he will soon seize power.
“I joined the government because I believed there would be transformation. The government must change but reform cannot take place if it continues with the old thinking and old philosophies,” Zaid told the New Straits Times.
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